Adam Scott has attempted to chart a path out of the hole that Cameron Smith finds himself in after the former major winner missed a seventh-straight cut – a slump that is forcing blunt questions about what’s gone wrong since his move to LIV Golf.
Scott has offered the soul-searching former world No.2 some hope as the downcast Queenslander wonders aloud how he’ll “get back to where he was”.
Smith carded a four-over 75 on Friday at Royal Queensland GC to finish at two over, four shots behind the projected cut line with some players still to complete their second rounds on Saturday.
It was the 2022 British Open champion’s seventh-straight missed cut in world-ranking events after infamously becoming the only player to miss all four weekends at the majors this year.
The easy-going Brisbane star had once been one of the sharpest competitors in world golf, winning three PGA Tour titles and threatening the No.1 ranking during a blistering 2022.
But that was before he defected to LIV Golf in a deal reportedly worth more than $140 million – a life-changing sum that also altered his schedule, the competitive intensity around him, and the pressure he felt week to week.
And now the uncomfortable question is unavoidable: has the guaranteed money, no-cut format and smaller fields of LIV dulled the hunger that once defined him?
Smith was runner-up in Brisbane last year and then second in a playoff in Saudi Arabia soon after, but the fact remains: his last solo win is more than two years ago.
He’s worked rigorously on his short game in the lead-up to his hometown event and thought his flat stick was warming after 10 one-putts on Thursday, only to watch his best efforts slide by on Friday.
“I’ve worked hard all year and got nothing out of it,” he said.
“It’s been frustrating … I don’t think about golf often but in the last couple of months I’ve thought about it a lot and I want to get back to where I was.”
But getting back to where he was may require returning to the level of week-in, week-out pressure that forged his major-winning form – pressure that LIV’s cushy format simply cannot replicate. Even supporters admit he now faces the problem of trying to summon competitive instincts that the LIV environment doesn’t demand.
Scott, the former world No.1 and Masters champion, hasn’t won himself since 2020 but is again in the hunt at six under, four behind leader Kazuma Korobi entering the weekend.
Min Woo Lee, Marc Leishman, Cam Davis and emerging English talent Marco Penge are among a 16-strong group within three shots of the lead.
Scott played in the group behind Smith and offered a gentle yet pointed message ahead of next week’s Australian Open, where they’ll face career grand slam winner and box-office attraction Rory McIlroy – a man who has never been shy about criticising the LIV format Smith chose.
“Can you turn it around in the space of a week?” the 45-year-old asked.
“Yeah. Absolutely. When you’re as good as him, of course he can.
“It’s one swing, one chip, one putt here or there, and the momentum changes and the confidence can grow quickly in a hole or two. You know, it’s just putting like four good swings and two putts together in a row.
“Sometimes, it’s really hard to do that, but that’s how it turns around and I’ve no doubt he can.”
Scott made a long birdie putt at the 17th to liven up a round that began promisingly but again featured a frustrating dropped shot on the gettable par-five ninth hole.
“It started great today and then it kind of got a little slow with the putter out there and the ninth hole’s been a bit costly,” he said.
“Somehow I’ve just got to get in the right mindset on these greens.”
Smith might say the same – but mindset is shaped by environment. And until he rediscovers the competitive fire that made him a major champion, questions about LIV’s impact on his game will only grow louder.